Hello,I live in Iowa and Florida with my husband, Bob, and our dog, Shadow. We have two children and five grandchildren. I'm writing genealogical books about our families, which is addictive. Photos of gravestones have been very helpful and are included whenever I find them. Thanks to all the volunteers who have taken pictures for me and persons who have transferred management so that I can add to their bios.

RE: Mary Jane Whitelhead SpringerIt was...you can see the site on Find a Grave...if you look for Mary Springer in Tippecanoe County, IN.It is a small pioneer cemetery that is pretty over-grown with trees. A small but wonderful group of volunteers went in and reestablished the cemetery. Most of the stones were underground by then. They used probes to find them and then marked where they were found. Then they set them up in a new all-together area and fenced it in. They have a nice sign up there with the names of those they found...didn't count but I'm thinking between 20 and 25 would be close. Then the man who photographed the stones for Find A Grave took in powerful lights. His photo is much easier to read than the real thing because there isn't as much light for real. I looked for her four times in about five years...always when I had reason to drive through Indiana. But it was definitely worth it. While I don't know, my suspicion is that this is find was the first time any of the relatives from Illinois (where Gpa James and his second wife went to settle) had been able to go and see her cemetery. I sure didn't hear anything about anyone going, even tho I did hear that shedied on her way west. Hadn't heard about the baby either. You can see that it makes me ramble on.Thanks for putting up with that. Kristy

RE: Mary Whitehead SpringerDid I tell you that I got to go to Mary Springer's cemetery and see her stone...plus a little stone about the size of a round loaf of bread or so. The guide I had told me that it indicated a baby born with her. The stone is initialed M.S. Since Micajah survived, I would guess (only a guess) that they named the baby Mary Springer.

If you ever get to go to Tippecanoe County, IN, write ahead of time, and I'll explain how to find it. It is not difficult once you know the tricks involved. But it took me four visits before I had the "right help" to do so.

The man who took the photo on Find A Grave did a wonderful job of lighting the area in the woods. You can read it better in the picture than you can when standing there...but you can't get the "feel" of it unless you really go there.